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December 14, 2015

Decorating evergreen trees as part of the celebration of Christmas was a long-standing tradition in European countries well before the practice was adopted by Americans. This European tradition was introduced to America by a number of means including the influx of German immigrants into Pennsylvania during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and drawings of decorated trees at Queen Victoria's Windsor Palace and other royal residences that were featured in newspapers and magazines in the 1840s and 1850s.

Osborne House Christmas tree as illustrated in Godey's Lady's Book, December 1850.

Source of image: Wikimedia Commons.

Decorated Christmas trees in America were further inspired by a published account of a tree in the home of Charles Follen in 1835, written by the British author Harriet Martineau. Follen, a professor of literature at Harvard University, a children's rights advocate, and an outspoken abolitionist, had erected the traditional Christmas tree of his German homeland for his son's holiday delight and to be shared by Christmas visitors, including Harriet Martineau.

Charles Follen. Frontispiece of Collection Works (1841) published by his wife, Eliza Follen, after

his death in 1839. Source of image: Wikimedia Commons.

Harriet Martineau by Richard Evans (died 1871). Collection of the National Portrait Gallery,

London, England. Source of image: Wikimedia Commons.

Charles Follen's abolitionist zeal and incendiary rhetoric on the topic of slavery partially cost him his position at Harvard, which he lost in 1835, and later resulted in his dismissal as an ordained clergyman at a Unitarian church in New York City. On his way to another clerical position in 1839, the steamboat on which he was traveling sunk during a storm and he never reached his destination.

Follen's dedication to the anti-slavery cause was echoed by many men and women, black and white, who formed anti-slavery societies in the early 19th century and worked vigorously to bring to national attention the plight of the enslaved in America. In 1834, members of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society founded by William Lloyd Garrison began holding Christmas fairs in Boston to raise money for the abolitionist cause and to use these fairs as a means to promote their anti-slavery sentiments. Soon, anti-slavery societies in Philadelphia, New York, and other cities engaged in fund raising and messaging through the sale of donated items at Christmas fairs, many of which displayed mottoes and slogans promoting the cause. In the January 2, 1837 issue of Garrison's paper, The Liberator, the following slogans were cited as some of those appearing on sales items: "Twenty five Weapons for Abolitionists" (on bunches of quills); "The doom of Slavery is sealed" (on wafer boxes); "Wipe out the blot of Slavery" (on pen wipers); "Trample not on the Oppressed" (on needle books made in the form of small shoes); and, "May the use of our needles prick the consciences of slaveholders" (on needle books, many of which were made by members of the society holding the fair).

Depiction of a female slave and motto often applied to articles sold at anti-slavery Christmas

fairs. Based on an engraving by Josiah Wedgewood of a male slave which read "Am I Not

a Man and a Brother?" Source of image: From George Bourne, Slavery Illustrated in Its Effects

upon Women (1837), Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress.

The women of the anti-slavery societies, in particular, promoted the idea that slaves had fewer rights than children and that they deserved a right to the caring consideration of Christians, as did children and all human beings. These women worked publically to expose the brutality of the institution of slavery, adopting an evergreen bough or shrub as a symbol of the freedom they sought for the enslaved. When this symbol was replaced at anti-slavery fairs by the decorated Christmas tree at the end of the 1830s, the Christmas tree became the seasonal anti-slavery symbol for freedom. It also promoted a new image of Christmas - a holiday characterized in the 18th and early 19th centuries in America as an occasion for raucous behavior and drunkenness. (Refer to our post of December 29, 2013 and the diary entries of Quaker Elizabeth Drinker for first-hand accounts of Christmas behavior in Philadelphia during this period of time.) The Christmas tree became a symbol of gift-giving to and the care of children who, themselves, came to symbolize the victims of slavery.

The Christmas Tree. Wood engraving by Winslow Homer (1836-1910).

Published in Harper's Weekly, Volume II, 25 December 1858, p. 820.

Source of image: Wikimedia Commons.

Many of the women who co-founded and participated in the activities of the anti-slavery societies were members of the Religious Society of Friends. The Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society was one of the most active and influential female societies in the country, boasting a membership that read like a "who's who" of both Quaker and non-Quaker female abolitionists. This society began holding Christmas fairs to raise money for the abolitionist cause in 1835. It continued to do so until 1861 and the end of the Civil War.

When it was first proposed to hold Philadelphia fairs as a fund-raising activity, there was active and vociferous discussion about whether or not members of the Religious Society of Friends should participate. Such events were regarded with suspicion and "disapprobation" by some, especially if they occurred during a week in which Monthly Meetings were held. It was finally agreed to call these events sales, rather than fairs (which implied frivolity and entertainment rather than a serious endeavor). Their first sales were small in scope and featured simple articles for purchase. As time went on, the name of the events changed to "fairs" and they became more and more elaborate with donations from wealthy families in England as well as America, raising more and more money for the cause.

Portrait of Lucretia Mott by Joseph Kyle (1815-1863). Painted in 1842 when she was 49 years old.

Source of image: Wikimedia Commons.

In 1842 there were still some members of the Religious Society of Friends who did not approve of Quakers participating in the fairs. That year, some of the sale items from England and elsewhere arrived too late to be included in the fair and a leading member of the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society, Lucretia Mott, volunteered to use her home as a venue for selling the items. Venerable as Lucretia was as an internationally known voice for the freedom and equality of all men and women, this generous offer resulted in a visit from Quaker elders who let her know that they strongly disapproved of the "light-hearted proceeding" these sales represented and of her vanity in letting an engraved image of herself be included in the sale. Nonetheless, the Philadelphia Christmas fairs continued and so did Lucretia until her death in 1880!

December 1, 2015

Dorothy "Dot" Everett (Pidgeon) Berry (1899-1987) was a birthright member of Hopewell Meeting, Virginia. She was known in her later years as a prolific knitter, making up patterns as she went along while rocking in a chair with a cat on her lap and a drink at her side. She was born into a many-generations family of Religious Society of Friends members and grew up on the Pidgeon family farm, "Circle Hill, that spanned Frederick and Clarke Counties, Virginia. Dot was Mary Holton Robare's grandmother-in-law and Mary had the great pleasure of knowing her for seven years.

Circle Hill farm house built ca. 1800. Photograph taken about 1900. Courtesy of

Ellen Berry.

In addition to her knitting, Dot made quilts for family members and, as far as we know, they were all variations of the same pattern.

Dot's earliest known surviving quilt was made for her first cousin-once-removed, Cynthia Evans, around the time of her birth in 1926. Cynthia's mother had grown up on Circle Hill farm as a member of Dot's family. She was one of four children living on the farm that included Dot, her sister, Cynthia's mother Hannah Williams, and (for a while) James Williams, so baby Cynthia was more like a niece than a cousin to Dot.

Circus Quilt, detail. Made ca. 1926 by Dot Berry for Cynthia Evans. The quilt was photographed

in an exhibit of Quaker Quilts held at the Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society, June 2014.

It is shown folded into the Society's "falcon head" or "hooded" cradle along with a doll that Dot

knitted as a toy for Cynthia ca. 1926. Collection of Mary Holton Robare.

There is interest from quilt history scholars in the pattern Dot used to make the quilt. Each block may have had its own name, and multiple names have been recorded for similar quilts. Marin F. Hanson discussed this in 2006 in the publication Textile. A very similar quilt appeared on the cover of Uncoverings 2010, the annual journal of the American Quilt Study Group. In this journal, Virginia Gunn's research cites the Spring 1926 issue of McCall Needlework and Decorative Arts for publishing the pattern (no. 1633) as a "Picture Patchwork Quilt." Interestingly, Dot's family always referred to it as a Circus Quilt, depicting scenes in cars of a circus train.

Cynthia's quilt. Collection of Mary Holton Robare.

Around the time Dot made Cynthia's quilt she was either living in (or just returning from) Peru. She had left the rural Virginia farm of her upbringing to travel the world with her husband, Edward Willard Berry. As a geologist, he took his wife on around-the-world tours three times. While in Peru, she gave birth to her first child, Mary-Susan Berry (born 1928).

Edward Willard, Dorothy, and Mary-Susan Berry.

There was a history of needlework and quilt-making in Dorothy (Pidgeon) Berry's family. Her grandmother was Sarah (Chandlee) Pidgeon, maker of the Pidgeon Family Quilt that is in the collection of The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.

Dot made "Circus Quilts" for her grandchildren decades after she made Cynthia's quilt, adapting the pattern each time. While Cynthia's quilt contained a top, bottom, and batting, Dot's subsequent pieced works were constructed in various ways. For her grandson, Christopher Robare, she backed a pieced top for the then three-year-old with a cozy red plaid wool. She also added a strip of cotton for tucking under at the feet and labeled this piece with embroidery on a corner.

Dot's Circus Quilt for Chris and detail of labeling. Collection of Christopher

and Mary Holton Robare.

When Dot made a quilt for her grandson, George Berry (born 1960), she chose different colors. She also used nine-patch blocks as corner blocks within the sashing which she further embellished with embroidered numbers and letters. This quilt was a gift to Mary from George's widow. It holds special memories of George who was a member of the Urban Search and Rescue Teams that went to Oklahoma City and the World Trade Center to help following the tragedies experienced there. Despite all he had witnessed, George maintained a cheery outlook on life.

Dot's Circus Quilt for George. Collection of Mary Holton Robare.

Three of Dot's Circus Quilts on display in the Abram's Delight house museum of the Winchester-Frederick

County Historical Society, June 2014.

Something about these "Circus" or "Picture Patchwork" block patterns captured Dot's attention enough to make bedcoverings for children in her family over the span of many decades.

Ann Hanna Hambleton

Ann was the mother-in-law of Philena Cooper Hambleton, the subject of Philena's Friendship Quilt: A Quaker Farewell to Ohio, and the great-aunt of Senator Marcus Hanna of Ohio.

American Quilt Study Group

Do you know about the American Quilt Study Group (AQSG)? If not, you should. The purpose of this non-profit organization is to establish, sustain, and promote the highest standards for quilt related studies, to encourage these studies, and to provide opportunities to disseminate the work of both academic and non-academic researchers. Membership in the AQSG entitles one to receive Uncoverings, an annual journal of the research papers presented at AQSG's yearly Seminar, and a quarterly publication titled Blanket Statements containing research papers, notes and queries, as well as AQSG and quilt world news. In addition, an annual directory is provided that lists the names, contact information, and interests of current AQSG members--a valuable networking resource that gives access to approximately 950 fellow quilt enthusiasts. Click on the quilt block above to visit AQSG's web site and learn how to become a member. The site also provides information about the organization's annual Seminar, its publication opportunities, its Quilt Study program, and the Technical Guides and other publications available to members and the general public. AQSG is also on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/American-Quilt-Study-Group/149056808116.

Quaker Quilts: Snapshots from an Exhibition

This pamphlet by Mary Holton Robare contains photographic and informational snapshots of quilts that were displayed in a three-day exhibit of Quaker Quilts held at Abram's Delight Museum in Winchester, Virginia, in 2014. The exhibit featured twenty-six quilts made between ca. 1840 and 2007. Click on the image to learn more about it.

Quilts and Quaker Heritage

Mary Holton Robare's book on selected quilts from an exhibition at the Virginia Quilt Museum in 2008. Click on the book to order and search by title.

Philena's Friendship Quilt: A Quaker Farewell to Ohio

In this 4th publication of the Ohio Quilt Series published by Ohio University Press, Lynda Salter Chenoweth presents the story of Philena Cooper Hambleton and the quilt made for her in Ohio in 1853 to take with her when she migrated to Iowa. To order, click on the book and then search by title.

Neighbors and Friends: Quakers in Community

Lynda Salter Chenoweth's second book based on her research into Philena's quilt tells the stories of those whose names appear on the quilt and places their lives in context. To order, click on the book and then search by title.

When This You See Remember Me

Also of interest by Mary Holton Robare. Schoolgirl Samplers of Winchester and Frederick County, Virginia. To order, click on the book, click "Store", then "Softcover Books" and search on title.

Followers

Copyright

(c) 2011-2017 Lynda Salter Chenoweth and Mary Holton Robare. Absolutely no reproduction or distribution permitted beyond one copy for personal study. For additional permissions regarding text please e-mail lchen@saber.net. All images are reproduced with permission of copyright holders. Any commercial or online use is strictly forbidden.

Lynda Salter Chenoweth

Mary Holton Robare

About Us

Lynda and Mary are quilt historians experienced in researching and publishing information about quilts made by members of the Religious Society of Friends. Their particular interest is in 19th century inscribed quilts that document Quaker families and their communities.
Lynda lives in Sonoma,California, and is a writer, a quilter, a researcher, and a member of the Board of the American Quilt Study Group. Mary lives in Winchester, Virginia, and is a writer, a researcher, and a choreographer and dance instructor.